This is the fate we knew awaited Katandra, sitting on the outside looking in, heading into a pivotal Cricket Shepparton Haisman Shield encounter with Shepparton Youth Club United.
Well, pivotal if it falls the Eagles’ way, anyhow, with anything less rendering it a moot point.
Nonetheless, the combine would be no pushover, and the duo of Joe Hammond and skipper Sam Nash made the visitors’ intentions clear by taking a swift advantage as Katandra’s top three fell for a combined eight runs.
It was Andrew Riordan to the rescue, though, with a stellar showing which firmly put this affair back on the path to competitiveness.
Generally speaking, it felt as if it hung in the balance for the remainder of the day’s play, with Riordan’s tremendous century — accompanied by 10 fours and a maximum — steering the ship back on course as the Eagles ultimately settled for 205 on their home deck.
A hearty and surely defendable total, of course, but the visitors owned the day’s final 15 overs to try and swing things back the other way.
While Nash displayed some early flash with a couple of boundaries, Katandra would have been more than pleased with its return at stumps as the combine’s reply gets set to resume three down next weekend.
THE GAME SO FAR
Katandra 205 (Andrew Riordan 106*, Ben Pedretti 28, Sam Nash 3-28) leads Shepparton Youth Club United 3-32 (Sam Nash 18, Seb Menzhausen 10, Bailey Simpson 1-4)
Coach Ryleigh Shannon was inclined to believe his men have the ascendancy at the halfway point.
“When you get 200, you’re in a good spot to defend that, so we’re pretty happy in the end,” Shannon said.
“It wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the heroics of ‘Riordo’; we’ve relied on him many times over the years.
“We’re lucky to have him and that he’s on our side.
“If we are lucky enough to find a spot in the finals, we’re hoping we can rally around that.
“He said it was the best he felt batting in a while, and when he hits like that, there’s not much you can do.”
There is the inescapable uncertainty where the table is concerned, though.
While Nagambie remains firmly poised to take points off Tatura, the recent one-day final fiasco means that while all the Lakers have to do is make 24 runs to offer Katandra a foot in the door, nothing is as yet secured.
In the meantime, Shannon knows his charges have a fight on their own hands to take care of first.
“We’ve seen they can make a lot of runs like they did against Waaia when their top three get going, but getting through that improves things for us,” Shannon said.
“We’re under no allusions about this game being over.
“We were able to raise a couple hundred for the McGrath Foundation as well, and credit to United for supporting that too.”
